


as the night comes in (you hear a lullaby)

by WonderTwinC



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-20
Updated: 2015-04-20
Packaged: 2018-03-24 21:45:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3785350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WonderTwinC/pseuds/WonderTwinC
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time Laurel hears the sound, it’s Sara.</p>
            </blockquote>





	as the night comes in (you hear a lullaby)

The first time Laurel hears the sound, it’s Sara.

She’s cleaning the bar top at Verdant and humming softly to herself as she does, a lilting little tune that sounds exotic in nature. Almost like a lullaby, Laurel thinks as she watches her sister from the end of the bar.

It’s a tune that Laurel quickly realizes her sister enjoys humming to herself. She hears Sara in the kitchen or while she's visiting her at work. The few times they stop to pick up their father for lunch, Sara usually hums on their walk to the precinct and back, a smile on her face. Laurel is almost convinced it's a song without words. Or at least, not any words that it appears Sara knows.

She likes it.

It reminds her of Sundays spent at home with the family before Sara went off to college. It reminds her of Tommy's smile. Her father's laugh.

After Sara dies, it's like all the warm things in the world disappear.

Laurel doesn't think about the song anymore. She doesn’t want to.

Then she befriends the most unlikely person and realizes just who Sara learned her bird song from.

Nyssa doesn't hum it quite the same as her sister had. Her voice is deeper, richer than Sara's had been. She also appears to know the words, bits and pieces of arabic that she sings softly to interrupt the humming.

It's beautiful.

"Sara knew that song," Laurel mumbles, sitting on the edge of the ring in her gym, trying to catch her breath. Nyssa looks up from where she's idly pushing the punching bag around, her expression unreadable.

"I taught it to her," the heir to the demon confesses softly. She goes back to pushing the sandbag in front of her. "She never quite grasped the words, however."

Laurel nods. "She loved it, though. Didn't she?"

Nyssa laughs, and it's perhaps the first time Laurel can remember hearing the sound. Her expression, however, reminds her of their conversation in the Foundry when Nyssa had been Oliver's prisoner. A sadness that can never be put to rest. "Indeed," she agrees softly, her tone much lighter than her expression would suggest. "Sara loved that song, for many reasons. I often sang it to her while she recovered in Nanda Parbat. After, she asked me to teach it to her and so I did."

"It's lovely," Laurel whispers, speaking about the memory as much as the song.

Nyssa nods, slowing the bag with a gentle hand as she turns to look at Laurel. "I could teach you, if you wish."

She can't help but smile back. "I'd like that." 


End file.
